LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (Oct. 2, 2009) – Disney Parks and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) today celebrated Buzz Lightyear’s cosmic achievement as the longest tenured crew member in space with a ticker-tape parade down Main Street, U.S.A. in Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World Resort. Some of Buzz’s new friends, including astronaut Buzz Aldrin and International Space Station Expedition 18 astronaut Michael Fincke, attended.

If you’ve visited the Disney Weddings website before, you’re in for a pleasant surprise. Although it still maintains an element of simplicity along with elegance, the Disney’s Fairy Tale Weddings site has been re-launched and is better than ever.

The new site seamlessly integrates tons of information, planning tools and shopping for both weddings and honeymoons at the Disneyland and Walt Disney World resorts as well as the Disney Cruise Line. There’s even a unique honeymoon registry system available. Instead of a Contact section, there’s Connect which provides all sorts of options for keeping tabs with the DFTW team of experts, including a blog in the near future.

In honor of the Blu-ray release of Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs: Diamond Edition this Tuesday, October 6, we thought we’d spend a little time recognizing the little folk that made it all possible: the dwarfs.

So like the title asks, how well do you know the dwarfs? If you know there’s only seven of them, you’re well on your way! Let’s just see how much more you know about them.

WASHINGTON, Oct. 2 — NASA and Disney Parks, which collaborated to carry toy space ranger Buzz Lightyear into orbit, are launching new efforts to encourage students to pursue studies in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

The 12-inch-tall action figure spent more than 15 months aboard the International Space Station and returned to Earth on Sept. 11. On Friday, Oct. 2, a ticker-tape parade at Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom in Orlando, Fla., will officially welcome Lightyear home.

“Buzz’s historic spaceflight is a great example of spreading the excitement of space exploration with students around the world,” said Joyce Winterton, NASA’s assistant administrator for Education at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “We hope our space station crews and Buzz will continue to spark student interest in the space station and its scientific potential.”

NASA astronaut Mike Fincke, the station commander from October 2008 to April 2009, is spending the day at the Magic Kingdom to tell students about two new educational design challenges and a new online game.

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 1 — The famed Hollywood El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood has been upgraded to 3D cinema leader RealD’s XL Cinema System in time for the highly-anticipated debut of Disney PIXAR’s Toy Story and Toy Story 2 Disney Digital 3D(TM) double feature beginning October 2nd. Powered by RealD for 3D presentations since the release of Disney’s Chicken Little in 2005, the landmark El Capitan Theatre is the highest attended RealD 3D theatre in the world.

“The El Capitan is a state of the art movie palace which has been equipped with RealD 3D technology for many years,” said Michael V. Lewis, chairman and CEO of RealD. “Upgrading to the industry’s brightest 3D delivered by the XL Cinema System in time for ‘Toy Story’ and ‘Toy Story 2′ will help a new generation of fans discover and fall in love with this classic franchise and beloved characters in spectacular RealD 3D.”

“This fantastic double feature will let moviegoers see two of their all-time favorite films from Pixar Animation Studios in a way they have never seen them before,” said Mark Zoradi, president of Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Group. “Countless hours are dedicated to creating Disney Digital 3D films and we’re excited audiences at the El Capitan Theatre will experience every eye popping 3D effect and feel like they’ve stepped inside the movie through RealD 3D.”

Check out this neat time-lapse video as a crew of 40 install autumn and Halloween decorations throughout the Magic Kingdom over several nights, just in time for the Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween parties to begin!

It makes its official debut this Thursday, October 1, but D23 members were offered an exclusive preview this past weekend to visit the new Walt Disney Family Museum located in San Francisco’s The Presidio. Reports of the free tickets selling out fast were all too common and it’s not any fault of the Museum. A steady stream of D23 Members crowded the ten galleries focusing on visually and audibly telling the story of Walt Disney’s life.

From the moment you step into the beautiful but non-descript building, you get a taste for what you’re in for. Nine trophy cases line the walls filled with literally hundreds of different awards and recognitions received by Disney along with a few bonus items thrown in. Also on display in the lobby area is some of the original furniture from the Disney apartment above the Disneyland Fire Department as well as the multi-plane camera just inside the gift shop area (the multi-plane camera is so large that it actually extends to its proper exhibit on the second floor).

Inside the first Gallery, you are introduced to Walt’s family, even pre-Walt. There are literally hundreds of photos that help depict the life of the childhood of Walt and his siblings. You also get your first taste of the technology heavily employed within the museum: LCD monitors (a few of *many*) play a short, stylized video along with actual records of Walt recalling his youth — everything from growing up on a farm to forging a document so that he’d be accepted by the American Red Cross to join an Ambulance unit in France during the war after being rejected by the Armed Forces for his age (he was 16 at the time).

Here are a couple of new featurettes for Disney’s The Princess and the Frog. The first features the film’s star Anika Noni Rose along with co-star Terrence Howard, the film’s directors: John Musker and Ron Clements and more as they talk about Disney’s newest princess, Tiana